Church; Meal; Have You Seen the MOON?

March 27, 2013.

My family stopped by a little after 5:30 p.m. to pick me up for church this evening. I've been wanting to go and thought about it, for a few days. During Lent there are many evening services, and Wednesdays are most attended. After the beautiful Liturgy is done, there is usually a meal on Wednesday evenings. 

Tonight there was a wonderful meal prepared by a Syrian parishioner and his family. There were at least six large pans/bowls of different items. He explained what each contained. There was only one that I couldn't have because of gluten. Oh, of course, I couldn't have the pita bread, either. Everyone raved about all the delicious pans of food ~ they looked good, the aroma was so welcoming, and all of it was tasty.

One pan had fried (or sauteed until browned) sliced almonds stirred into the mound of a few carbohydrates, and also sprinkled on top. The almonds were crispy and so luscious! I also liked the much-browned onions mixed in with the rice-and-lentil dish. Another dish looked good and was so tasty ~ it was made with peas and tomatoes. There was also a dish of red beans, yummy. Chick peas with a white liquid on them and some seasoning, another yummy! Now I'd like to know the names of each of the pans of food, as I want to attempt making them in my kitchen!

It was a lovely time at the dinner tables, with conversations abounding. The children, too, always enjoy these dinners, because they get to play with each other so excitedly. It's such a pleasure for me to see all those little ones happily playing together. 

By the way, have you seen the lovely, oh, so lovely, moon tonight? It seems very large, as it sometimes appears larger than usual, rising from the horizon. There are some clouds hovering around it this evening, and sometimes they hide the moon. I like to see some clouds stretching out in front of the moon ~ it produces a very beautiful effect.

What a lovely evening this turned out to be!  

I am ready for bed now, and plan to have a good night's sleep. 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

Blubbering; Brrrrrrrr ... ; Robins and Doves.

March 11, 2013.

Good morning, dears, uh ... I should have said 'Good COLD morning, dears'! 

I have been ready to blubber because of waistline blubber, so I decided that I MUST take a walk once in a while, and eat less. It is quite frustrating to have attracted so much of this blubber that set up housekeeping around my waist. 'Carbs', I am sure, is the main culprit. 

So I went out this morning, this COLD morning; wind chill factor makes it 31˚, when it is actually 39˚. I was glad I put my gloves on, but was wishing to have a face mask. The biting wind made my cheeks blush. I didn't go all the way to Rasco Road, but almost that far, and the walk was a twelve-minute one. Those brisk breezes brushing my face were quite disappointing. I did have my thin babushka on my head, but should have chosen a heavier one.

I loved seeing several robins hopping here and there on sidewalks in a few places ~ they chirp so gaily and look so cheery with their upright posture and orange breasts. On very cold days in this cool spring, I have seen a few of them huddling down on their perch on the back fence, and I felt so sad for them. 

Sometimes a bird will sit on the highest part of a house or tree thinking he is the King of the Hill. I like to see that. Today the dove sitting on the top-most point of a roof was so beautiful and cooing so delightfully. As I stopped to look at it, the cooing stopped. So I went onward: 'excuse me', I thought. Was it bashful to rehearse in public? Or was it afraid that I would try to climb up there to get a closer look? 

Once on a rainy day, there were two doves in front of my place, and they sat on one of the lines of that heavenly music staff (as I like to think of the wires lining the street), not cooing but just sitting there while the steady moderate rain was pouring down. It was not just several minutes that they sat there, but thirty or more! I would check on them from time to time, and they were in the same place and in the same fluffy position. They seemed to hunker down on the line, sitting quite close together, in the rain. 

Even though it was so breezy for my morning walk, I did enjoy it immensely. Cold overcast sky, hardly anyone around except the meter reader who was briskly walking along to the side of each home to read its meter. He didn't have his vehicle parked anywhere that I could see, so he was apparently on a very long walk. Good for him, he gets his exercise.  

Happy Walking, wherever you are! 

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

Polkas In The Morning, A Walk In The Afternoon.

February 23, 2013. 

It was cool and breezy this morning, and I was in my kitchen most of the time, listening to my favorite, EVER, polka program. I used to listen to several of them when I lived in northeastern Pennsylvania, and visiting or staying with Gram B in Michigan. There are so many polka lovers all over this country, some of them in certain areas that were settled by many of the eastern European immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This program is from KSPC 88.7 fm, Claremont, California. You can get it on the computer at KSPC.org. 

This morning was a good show as usual, and the DJ played quite a few new-to-him old LPs that his son bought at a large sale. Most of these songs were familiar to me, from listening to those long-ago programs, and dancing with my friends at polka dances in the 1980s and 1990s. The program runs for three hours, and how happy I am that it does! 

I was puttering with my breakfasts (actually one prolonged breakfast) and taking care of some snail mail while in the kitchen. After one o'clock, I felt quite tired, and took a short power nap, but kept lying there resting, and finally it was almost an hour. I went outdoors to get the mail, and picked some of those adorable, lovely intruders, the dandelions, that try to get over here from my neighbor's. Plucking the blossoms off them and some of the leaves causes the dandelion plants with their extremely long taproots to devote a lot of attention on making further attempts to grow more leaves.  

Googling 'getting rid of dandelions' I discovered that they indeed have such long taproots that it is quite impossible to pull them out for good. One has to use a special tool to loosen them all around, and then it is easier to get the entire taproot. If part of that is left in the ground, that little forceful root will eventually produce many more plants.  

While outdoors, I noticed that it would be a good time to walk, so I put the key and ID in my pocket and set out with much pleasure. I went a short distance down the street to the side street that would take me on a little different route, and walked briskly. I did stop from time to time to catch my breath for about thirty seconds. I saw a young apparently middle-schooler throwing a basketball on their driveway. The net is tattered and torn, probably from his older brothers' use, but still useful. I waved a 'hi' at him, and went on. 

I turned the upper corner and headed home. It was pleasant to take this different route. I stopped to study the very curly bark of an unusual birch tree. I would stop now and then to see an airplane rise in the air from the nearby airport.              

How lovely to see that metal bird fly 

Into the gorgeous azureous sky!  

I'll see you at the Corner Post ... 

Three Notes On The Staff.

February 9, 2013.

Just a few minutes ago, I looked out the front door to see what kind of day it might be. The Saturday Ad paper had been flung out of the delivery vehicle, and they were lying near or on driveways in the neighborhood. I went out to pick mine up. It is nippy outdoors this morning, but so very pleasant, with a pale azure sky bearing a lot of wispy little sheep on the meadow up there. 

As I was admiring and adoring such a lovely sky, I noticed a few birds sitting quietly and still, on the telephone wires. I like to call those telephone or electric wires my ' heavenly music staff '. The way the birds were situated was really noticeable ~ there were three of them, equally spaced along one of the wires, with the dove in the middle, and on each side of him or her about eight feet away was a single black bird. 

They were not moving one iota, and I quickly went back to the door to get my camera! Oh, if they would just keep sitting still, what a picture that would make! I stood on the little shallow porch and didn't go any farther for fear they would fly away. 

I snapped several shots (as good photographers do so they would get at least one good photo) and then suddenly one of the black birds departed. He must have had the thought, "Oh, I'll bet she is going to shoot me!" and then flew away to escape. 

But that didn't matter to me, because I did take enough pictures to satisfy my desire. I couldn't zoom in on the three of them, because they were so neatly separated at such a distance. 

I wonder what kind of meeting they were attending ~ was it a seminar, voting session, conference, or discussion? 

What a lovely beginning to a good day for me!  

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

My New Novel ... ; Tornado Warnings.

January 30, 2013.


As is done in the Charlie Brown strip, my first sentence is already in my head: "It was a hairy, scary night..." 

With the coming severe thunderstorms yesterday afternoon, it seemed to me that I could handle things. My son had emailed me saying he would pick me up to go to their house to weather out the storm. 

I emailed back that we could just see what happens before we made that decision. I really felt rough and tough, that I could handle the situation. Thunder is usually all right, 'cept if it is right over my head. 

But then, as I was staying home and the evening wore on, suddenly on the computer weather graphic, I saw "Tornado Warning" coming from the southwest, appearing to come right up my street. 

I got my hand flashlight, put it in my pocket, and prepared my mind to listen for the tornado siren, be ready to go right into the laundry room and shut the door. 

I kept looking at the computer graphic, praying that those tornadoes would dissipate 'right now'. As I was getting more and more tired and wished to go to bed, I thought I could leave my working clothes on, lie on top of the bed and cover with my fleecy throw. 

Dozing off now and then, I finally got up at two-something, and saw that the tornado warnings had gone east of Memphis. I then put my jammies on, and slept under the covers ...   UNTIL 8:25 a.m.!!!!  Doggone, the day is almost half over!  But I am safe and sound, Thank You. 

There must have been floods of water, because some of the new mulch is sitting on the front sidewalk. When it dries, I shall sweep it back under the bushes. -- And work on my 'new novel'...  

I'll see you at the Corner Post ...

No Rain Yet; My Squished Little Stuffed Elephant; Broken Glassware; Reviewing.

January 24, 2013.

Well, today turned out to be better than I thought it would be. There was supposed to be drizzly rain today, but now it's been put off until past midnight tonight. Bet your bottom dollar it won't even rain then...

This morning after I had breakfast, I just kind of dawdled out into the garage to see what I could see. Hmmmm, I hadn't done much work in there opening boxes, for quite a while. 

So I 'accidentally' did two hours' worth of work out in the garage! I kept coming in to have a drink of water, or to change the radio station, or to put something in the sink to wash, from the boxes. It gives me more exercise, walking to and fro. 

It turned out to be quite a nice couple of hours, except for my poor squished stuffed elephant! He's only eight inches tall. He looked so funny, so thin, his legs were not where they should be...  It seemed so whimsical to me when I found him. I hope his trunk gets a little loose and goes back into place ~ I'd like him to trumpet a hello.

His buddy Koala Bear was also in the same group. Koalas don't have much of a protruding schnozz anyway, and this fellow's nose was quite flat. I am working on him now and then to get his nose to relax and come out a bit. He's sort of 'bug-eyed' (which means wide eyes in amazement or something) -- he just can't believe what happened. 

The third in the group is a four-or-five inch light tan Teddy Bear with a little plaque about 'friendships', and a cute little flowered cape. He's also got a golden string on his back to hang him up somewhere so he can observe what's going on.  

Oh, I also found two flat lazy-susans. One is tan and 12 1/2 " across, the other is beige and 10 " across. I like them quite a bit, and plan to use them. It's good to see some of these belongings again. 

And, oh, yes, - ahah! - some broken pieces of dish ware, cups, etcetera. There's been a great deal of that along the way. 

I did find a few books, and other things that need going over, so that's where I'll be this afternoon if you need me... ;-)  


Be well, be happy, and remember your New Year's resolution. 

I'll see  you at the Corner Post...

It Was A Lovely Afternoon!

January 20, 2013.

My family brought me back to my house from Church, in the early afternoon, dropped me off, and I began to do some relaxing things. Like listening on my computer to the European music programs on WPIT, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, not far from Fayette City, where my Dad was born in 1904. I like the shows they have, of Slovenian, Ukrainian, Carpatho-Rusyn, Slovak, and German music during Sunday afternoons. 

I was also checking my emails, nope, nobody wrote to me. I was eating a cookie, and looking over some letters and birthday cards from earlier years. Then the phone rang. It was Anne Marie. She and Clay have gone to Wyoming for the weekend. Clay was outdoors, and indoors, and then puttering outdoors, while Anne Marie and I had a good chat. A long chat, to be truthful. We talked about so many things, because we hadn't chatted for quite some time. 

Then after we hung up, I decided to go for a walk, it seemed rather nice outdoors. I walked all the way to Rasco, and turned around and came back home. All the while, there were FedEx planes flying out on their regular routes and times. There must have been at least twenty or more, and I wished I had taken my camera with me. 

When I got back to the house, I took my camera and waited for the next plane to come, as they were quite regular with a few or several minutes between departures. I tried to take some photo shots, not many were good, and I did take one shot of an airplane and the half moon. This was at 4:35 p.m. Farther up the street it would have been better to get a good shot of the airplanes. Next time I'll do that, if I have it on my agenda.

My walk was fifteen minutes long, and then I stayed outdoors in the front yard for a full half hour! I sat on the concrete bench and faced the east, where the moon was, and enjoyed the crisp air, the gorgeously azure sky, and the many birds that kept flying around between me and the moon. There are several very tall deciduous trees out behind a few houses, and the birds would alight at the tops of the branches and twigs. The autumn leaves have mostly fallen from the trees, so it was easy to see the birds on their perches. 

I saw one bright red cardinal, away up in the top of the tallest tree. There were many other kinds of birds, perhaps about four to seven birds alighting in each tree, sitting for a while, then going somewhere else. There were always about fifteen birds in the tops of the trees, that I could see between the houses and over rooftops. Those birds kept coming and going, waiting, I believe, for the sun to 'go down' behind the homes on the other side of the street.  

It was such a delightful time, bringing contentment to my heart. Then I came in and am thinking of what to have later for dinner. 

I'll see you at the Corner Post...